I'll Be Missing You
by Marauder-In-Disguise
Summary: AKA - Goldilocks and the Bear With A Sore Head. Garcia's reflections on the months between seasons 6 and 7


**A/N – You don't have to read 'The Good Old Days' for this one to make sense, but this is a companion piece to that one shot if anyone is interested!**

**Disclaimer – If I owned it there would never, ever be long gaps between episodes…**

Months had passed, and Garcia was hard pushed to remember him smiling even once, not properly. Well that wasn't true; he'd smiled when he told them that JJ was coming back. But then Ashley had transferred, and Reid had taken extended leave and Hotch had been sent out to Pakistan of all places and David Rossi had stopped smiling. Of course, she couldn't blame him; with the team down to four, things had to change. Derek and JJ did the majority of the travelling, and Rossi was stuck back in the office doing most of the paperwork and handling consultations. He'd offered to do that part of the job, declaring Morgan a more patient teacher for JJ, but he wasn't enjoying it. A few times he'd blown up in a most un-Rossi like manner and Morgan had swapped for a case or two, just to get the older man out of the four wall prison that circumstances has created for him.

And she understood why Rossi was on edge. With Hotch's office empty, unoccupied desks in the bullpen and the Round Table room unused by their team in months, he was missing the team. The way things used to be. She knew it because she was missing it too, but at least she could hide in her office and pretend that everything was back to normal. Rossi rarely closed his door, had never needed to, and he had a habit of going to read over files out with the others in the bullpen, or slipping into Hotch's office for a chat and a cup of coffee. He was alone out there now.

Garcia felt terribly sorry for him. At least she still had Derek, and JJ being back was a bonus she had never expected. She called Reid almost every day, and she still had Rossi to talk to even if he did tend to grunt in reply. He appreciated their friendship, she could tell, but he'd lost two people very close to him very quickly; there had always been a noticeable closeness between him and Emily, and he hadn't spoken to Hotch in nearly two months. She suspected that was the thing really getting to him. Hotch was his closest friend, his confidante, and as much as both of them would like to deny it, they needed each other. Hotch was probably in much the same mood out in godforsaken Pakistan. She chuckled sometimes, imagining the fate of the first poor sap who managed to piss him off. She was no profiler, but she had worked out how to deal with the pair of them long ago. She'd practically become Rossi's keeper, forcing him to go home, bringing him coffee, soothing feathers he managed to ruffle, and she didn't mind a bit. He was hurting and she'd do anything to make him feel better.

A knock on the door interrupted her musings, and she smiled secretly as she called out.

"Enter, mortal!"

Rossi pushed the door open with some difficulty, two cups of coffee in his hands and files tucked under his arms. Wordlessly, he dropped the files unceremoniously on the table in the middle of the room and brought the coffees over. Leaning on the edge of the desk, he handed over her favourite mug.

"How are they doing?" he asked, nodding towards the fingerprints on one of her screens that were running through the system.

"Almost done. No hits yet."

"Damn it. We're missing something, I know."

"We'll get it, don't worry. Derek's had a few more ideas."

"I know, he called me," Rossi sighed, running a hand through hair that was just a tad too long. He moved away from the desk and strode to the table covered with his mess of folders. Sitting down, he pulled his fountain pen from his pocket and began to scribble his way through the paperwork. The first time, a few months ago, that he'd brought his work to her office he had claimed that his office was cold and he couldn't sit there anymore. But then he came the next day, and the day after that and the day after that and soon he was there every day and there were no excuses. None that he could anyway, but she understood him completely; the empty bullpen had finally got too much. It was ironic really; when he had first joined them all those years ago, he'd needed a kick from Hotch just to teach him the meaning of the word 'team', and now he was storming around like a bear with a bad head because they had been taken away from him. Garcia had already made a note to tell Hotch that his words had been heeded and then some.

Her phone rang suddenly and she flicked the button to answer it before it had even had time to ring for the second time.

"Oracle."

"Baby girl, it's me. Is Rossi there?"

"Yes," she said, with as little tone to her voice as she could, unsure why Rossi being around would be a problem.

"Okay, don't put me on speaker. How is he?"

"Same as usual," she said carefully, feeling Rossi's eyes on her back, "Why?"

"We're getting nowhere today, Garcia. I think it's time to give up and send him home for some sleep. I spoke to him earlier and he practically bit my head off."

"As you wish, my love," she agreed, wondering if Derek knew that she could his own fatigue in his voice and had already realised that he was the one wanting to get some rest. She decided it best not to mention it; lately Derek was just as likely to snap as Rossi was. He'd always said that the team belonged to Hotch and he felt like he was letting the other man down when something didn't go well under his command.

"Thanks baby girl. You go home too. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He hung up with a click and Garcia pulled off her earpiece.

"Derek says we should give up for today," she said simply, reaching for her bag and piling her things into it, "And I for one think it's a great idea. My Geek Hunk is starting to forget what I look like."

There was no answer from behind her and she spun in her chair to find Rossi continuing to scribble away in his files. Then, finally, he shrugged and looked up.

"You go ahead. I'm going to stay here and get all these done."

"I'm afraid not, Agent Awesome," she said lightly, standing up and starting to pull the files into a neat pile just out of his reach, "You have to go home too."

"I'm not a child, Garcia," he snapped, "I'm perfectly capable of putting myself to bed when I'm tired!"

To his credit, he was beginning to look sheepish at his outburst even before he had finished speaking but she let him stew a little as she continued to take his work from him.

"Alas, I'm only passing on the orders from Morgan. And if you don't believe that he said it, I can always go and tell Chief Strauss that our senior agent is ignoring-"

"Okay, okay, I'll go," he said quickly, knowing that dealing with Erin right now would be a very bad idea. He swept Garcia's tidy pile into his arms and glanced up at her. She was smiling broadly and he realised that he had just been played, big time; the hurt tone and the mention of Strauss had all been an act. She reached over and tucked his fountain pen into his shirt pocket.

"It won't be much longer, you know," she said, "Hotch will come back and Reid's leave will be over soon and you won't have to put up with me all day, every day."

They left her office silently, and walked out to the bullpen. She settled herself at Reid's desk and declared that she would wait for him so they could walk to the parking lot together. Rossi seemed to have given up on any idea he had about staying, so he was in and out of his office pretty quickly. By the time they got to the level where they both were parked, he still hadn't said anything but he walked her to her car, like he always did. She tossed her bag into the front seat and turned to say goodbye, and he finally spoke.

"I'd have gone mad if it wasn't for you, Garcia," he said sincerely, "I'm sorry I'm such a moody bastard these days. Please don't ever think that I'm just putting up with you."

She threw her arms around him and was pleased to feel him return the hug.

"I forgive you, sir. But I wasn't lying – it won't be much longer."

"Can you promise me that?"

Her lips curved into a smile.

"I promise."

**A/N 2 - The Profiler's Choice Awards in full swing over on Chit Chat on Author's Corner, with the poll still open until the 30****th**** November! **

**Head over there to vote for all your favourite stories and give your favourite authors some love! Speaking of love, thanks so much to everyone who nominated 'Princesses, Witches and Bachelors, Oh My!' for best Alternative Universe and 'Behind Every Great Man' for best Hotch/JJ. I'm so humbled and totally ecstatic!**


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